Noob question regarding jalepenos...

Noob question regarding jalepenos...

Sun Jul 07, 2013 9:59 pm

I decided to start a garden.... I have one bell pepper plant, one jalepeno plant, 4 eggplants, 2 tomato plants, one cucumber plant and 2 types of squash....

Anyways its all going good, i started a little late.. (June 4th i think.) I bought plants already started from home depot. Everything is growing at the same rate except one Jalepeno pepper.. Its 3 inches long, thick. It looks ready. The rest of the plant is growing really slow. I wonder if that one if robbing everything else on the plant of nutrients. Should i pick that one now? Its only been a month. Like i said, I'm a beginner with this stuff.

I just looked on the tag it came with. Its a Gigante Jalepeno. So i think it needs to grow more..

Re: Noob question regarding jalepenos...

Mon Jul 08, 2013 1:58 pm

We've been in the 80s to just over 90 for the last month (standard summer weather here), and it's only now that my jalapenos and habaneros have finally started to take off. We had a cool spring, so their growth was stunted really badly and they yellowed quite a bit because of that. But after some extended warmth and decent sunshine (after a lot of cloudy days), they're really responding.

Personally, I'd take off the one pepper you have right now. That should result in the plant putting more energy into getting bigger, which will help with your overall harvest when all is said and done.

Re: Noob question regarding jalepenos...

Mon Jul 08, 2013 8:35 pm

Thanks for the help. I love right outside of Boston. Its been rainy and hot and sunny. I'm excited to go harvest the pepper. I don't know what type of soil i had, i just dug the dirt up, raked it out smooth, stomped on it to make the dirt firm, and planted some plants. Knock on wood, but I'm doing something right..

Re: Noob question regarding jalepenos...

Re: Noob question regarding jalepenos...

Mon Jul 08, 2013 9:06 pm

I've kept green jalapenos in my fruit/veggie bowl for a couple weeks with no ill effect. Just check on it every day or so. It'll start to get soft after a few days to a week, but it's still perfectly fine to eat at that point. If you keep it in the fridge, it'll last longer, but it'll get soft more quickly.

As for later harvesting, I personally prefer jalapenos after they've turned red. The heat and sweetness are dialed up a few notches, and the bitterness disappears (similar to bell peppers in that regard).

Re: Noob question regarding jalepenos...

Mon Jul 08, 2013 9:10 pm

By the way...I'd suggest looking into a little fertilizer. It's up to you whether you want to do it organically or not, but I'd think your plants would benefit from it right now. They can always use a nice recharge around now, and it's likely they'll respond nicely to it.

Re: Noob question regarding jalepenos...

Re: Noob question regarding jalepenos...

Mon Jul 08, 2013 9:27 pm

Makes sense. There's such a thing as too much fertilizer, but if they need a shot in the arm after being planted in regular old native soil, they'll respond nicely to it.

I usually don't start harvesting a decent number of hot peppers until later in the summer. It takes them a while to get going, so don't be discouraged if you don't see new flowers for a couple weeks. But before you know it, it'll be covered in little white flowers and those jalapenos nubbins will start to show up.

Re: Noob question regarding jalepenos...

Re: Noob question regarding jalepenos...

Mon Jul 08, 2013 10:59 pm

My peppers come in cycles. You may just be between cycles. If you bought a start and transplanted it, the plant may be growing the roots at the expense of fruits. As long as the plant is healthy it should start flowering again.

Re: Noob question regarding jalepenos...

Wed Jul 10, 2013 11:56 pm

My peppers have been in since April down here in TX. They took a while to get going but now all 5 of my plants are starting to produce. I've got banana peppers that are ready for harvest. Same with jalapeno's and a few golden cayennes. I think I'm about to have another big crop this summer. The plants really took off when we had a week in the high 90's about a month ago.

Since you are in Boston, you def need to give it more time. As long as the plant looks healthy, keep an eye on it and it will produce.

Re: Noob question regarding jalepenos...

Sat Jul 13, 2013 7:01 pm

mattie g wrote:I've kept green jalapenos in my fruit/veggie bowl for a couple weeks with no ill effect. Just check on it every day or so. It'll start to get soft after a few days to a week, but it's still perfectly fine to eat at that point. If you keep it in the fridge, it'll last longer, but it'll get soft more quickly.

As for later harvesting, I personally prefer jalapenos after they've turned red. The heat and sweetness are dialed up a few notches, and the bitterness disappears (similar to bell peppers in that regard).